Princess Suzy is FIVE!!

The new year brought a big birthday for our Sue Baby. We have been talking about her birthday for months. She actually started planning her perfect party over the summer. I have gotten so bad about birthday parties. We didn't have one the past couple years for her friends. We did the cheap, easy family party instead. Her birthday is January 7, so it always falls right after the crazy expenses of Christmas. I knew we had to do something for this birthday since it was such a big deal to her. She turned FIVE!! My girl is five years old!! It doesn't even seem right.

Ella Suzanne Smith, newborn pictures (1/13/12)

Suzy came home from school one day and informed me that she wanted to get her ears pierced. I have always said that I would wait until she asked for them to be pierced before I would do it. I wanted it to be her choice. I also wanted her to be able help take care of them. I honestly thought the idea would fade and she would forget about it. To my surprise, she didn't forget. She was determined that she wanted to have them pierced, so I agreed that we would do it for her birthday. When the day came to go to Claire's she was pumped. She never even acted a bit nervous!! She picked out her earrings(diamonds of course), jumped in the chair, and patiently waited for them to mark her lobes.  THREE, TWO, ONE.... Done!!! She did it! She never even flinched. She was was a trooper. When I would look at her with her fancy new earrings I just saw a grownup baby. Those earrings made such a huge difference in her appearance. She just instantly looked more mature. Her daddy was very sad about all this. He didn't even want her to get them done. It made him very sad to think that she could possibly be old enough to make this decision on her own. He obviously accepted it, but it was a hard pill to swallow. 

This is how Scott still sees Suzy! 

Next came the party! The party that she has been planning for months..... She insisted that she wanted a Princess Party. She wanted all of her sweet little friends to dress up in their princess dresses for the party. She also wanted to have a paint party. I contacted Lisa Cobbs about leading the party for us and she graciously accepted. On January 7, my house was flooded with the glittery dresses of twelve little girls. As each girl arrived Lisa painted their faces. As they waited for face paint they colored the birthday banner or played. 

Lisa brought this banner for them to color. She had everything planned to a T. 

The girls always enjoy playing with someone else's toys! It's amazing to see them play in Suzy's playroom. They all probably have the same toys, but every time we have them all over they destroy the playroom! I am so glad that we can just shut the doors to that room and move on! 

After they all arrived Lisa promptly started the painting session. She gave them great directions, plenty of paint options, and let them have as much fun as possible. Lisa was absolutely wonderful!!!! I highly recommend her. 

While we were doing the cake and present portion of the party, Lisa touched up their art and set them aside to dry. Suzy insisted on a Frozen themed cake. She also insisted that her CiCi had to make the cake. Of course, CiCi agreed. She showed up with this masterpiece. I promise, I have never seen a cake so neat. She even made the "ice shards" from scratch. The cake not only looked incredible, but it was absolutely delicious! CiCi did not disappoint (she never does, though)! 

Suzy's Princess Party was a success! All the girls had a great time and took home some precious artwork. I am still sweeping up glitter and I don't think I will ever get it all up! 

"911, What's Your Emergency?"

It's only been an eternity since I sat down at the computer and blogged. I should seriously be ashamed of myself. Kalon always send me links to my past blogs and I smile every time I read them. I used my blog like a baby book for Suzy. It's a crying shame that I have not made time for it since Sally has joined our lives. Speaking of Sally.....

Sally has had quite an interesting month. Two days before Christmas was a day that I will never ever forget. As I was getting "life arranged" to get in the shower that morning I noticed Tim Allen on the TV screen. I realized that The Santa Claus was on at like 8:30 am. I thought it was so weird that it would coming on at such a random time. "Arranging life" entailed getting Sally and a handful of toys to sit inside the doorway of the bathroom and getting Princess Suzy (she had on the most annoying princess dress we own) some milk. It was my normal routine to get them all staged so I could take a shower everyday. As soon as I got in the shower Suzy realized that there was a movie on that had Santa in it. She came and asked if she could put Sally on the bed with her so she could watch the movie with her. I agreed under the condition that she didn't leave the bed while Sally was up there. Within a minute all I heard was Sally screaming bloody murder followed by Suzy screaming bloody murder. I had just lathered my hair up with shampoo, but immediately jumped out of the shower and ran to the door to find neither of the girls sitting on the bed. Suzy had left Sally to go get a t-shirt to replace her itchy princess dress. Sally was probably trying to "follow" Suzy and fell off our bed onto the hardwood floor. Of course, I did what any level headed mom would do.... I PANICKED. I did my very best to get Sally calm, but soon realized that when she would calm down her eyes would roll into the back of her head. She also started vomiting and acting like she was fixing to pass out. I called my mom because I knew she could get here quickly. Something like this has never happened to me, so I didn't know if I should over-react or under-react. When my mom and Memaw got here from their interrupted shopping trip they could tell that something just wasn't right. Sally continued with the lethargic behaviors and vomiting. I called 911 and told them the situation. The nearest ambulance was in Sardis. WHAT?! Sardis?! Are you kidding me?! I knew I had no other option but to wait, because we couldn't put her in a car seat and we didn't know what to do if something started getting worse. I called Scott when I hung up the phone with 911 and I have no idea how he figured out what I was saying, but somehow he translated some information and hauled rear towards home. I called my Dad's shop too. My poor Uncle Ken answered the phone and had no idea what I was trying to say (since then he has informed me that I have to calm down so he can relay the correct messages). While waiting on the ambulance to arrive I did a ton of crying, praying, and holding when I could. I have never been so scared in my life. I seriously thought I was fixing to lose my baby. Suzy was still freaking running around trying to get the itchy dress off. I was so "mad" at her that I just yelled at her, which made matters only worse for her. I regret yelling at her and taking my worry out on her so much. I finally threw some clothes on and got somewhat decent before Senatobia Fire Department arrived. Luckily I am very familiar with the guys that worked that shift. One of them was my neighbor, Ethan. Those guys made this terrible, traumatic experience much less chaotic than it had currently been. They tried checking her, but their gadgets weren't small enough to read her vitals. The ambulance arrived shortly after. They loaded her up and we headed to Baptist DeSoto Emergency Room. By the time we got to Coldwater Sally was acting fine. It was like the spell she was under had passed and she was just a chipper as usual. They did a CAT scan on Sally, which was pure torture for Scott and I to watch. The results showed that she had three skull fractures and a concussion. The Physicians Assistant came in and described all the things that could go wrong within the next 24 hours. My heart sank again and I lost it, AGAIN. Scott had left after the radiologist's report to go home and get us some clothes (they warned that we would likely need to stay for 24 hours for observation) because she was just as happy and normal as could be. The PA informed us that we were going to be transported to LeBonhuer due to the severity and because it was considered an infant trauma situation. I was deflated. I was scared. I was sad because of how I had treated Suzy. I was just a wreck. I am so thankful that Gigi and Pops were with me. They did a wonderful job keeping me somewhat sane. I have the best inlaws in the world. When we got to LeBonhuer it was like a breath of fresh air. Their positivity radiated throughout our room. Our Sally girl was going to be just fine. She did have the fractures and concussions, but since her symptoms had subsided there was no reason to have any worries. They quickly (as quick as hospitals can be) discharged us. I cannot say enough good things about our experience with both hospitals that day. Baptist did a great job, they just weren't certain enough to keep us there. I will admit that they could probably get some "bedside manner" lessons from LeBonhuer, but they were very attentive and we are forever grateful. We felt everyone's prayers that day! I was also very thankful to get home, personally. I was so ready to brush my teeth, put on a bra, and rinse old dry shampoo out of my greasy hair. I am so glad that I thought to grab a jacket. Too bad I forgot gum that day.

This is Sally the night of the accident. You cannot tell she had even been through anything. This is where she should have been perched that morning. Total "mom fail" on my part. She is always parked in this doorway for my showering rituals now :) 

Taking a family photo gets harder and harder!! 

Two nights post accident at Mimi and Papaw's for Christmas Eve!

My favorite picture of Mimi and Papaw with all their girls. Sweet Sara isn't ever very sure about my wild girls. She is always so calm.... my girls are always so very "active"! 

Suzy insisted they take a picture with just Papaw. 

Sally and Sara squeezing a whole lot of chubbiness into Sally's wagon.

Sally realized quick that 2 fat girls are better off in separate vehicles. 

Would you please look at Sara's face!!! 

Sara's new wheels that Mimi and Papaw got her. 

Sally didn't know that Santa would be bringing her one too!! 

My Aunt LoLo picked Suzy up from my mom that day. They had already scheduled an outing, but due to the situation the time was just a little earlier than anticipated. Suzy and LoLo always do all sorts of awesomely fun things. That night they went to look at Christmas lights in a lighted carriage. They had been to the mall, petting zoo, restaurants, etc. already. Lolo spoils all the babies. A few days after the ordeal I saw Suzy hit Sally in the head with a block. I was flabbergasted.... I asked her what on Earth she was thinking!! She responded, "I just wanted to go back to Lolo's house"...... The girl thought she could send Sally to the ER again I guess. Talk about rewarding negative behaviors!! It's sometimes hysterical to get a glimpse into what a four year old thinks. But, seriously, Suzy has been very over protective of Sally since the incident. She doesn't want to be left in the room alone with her at all and I cannot say I blame her. She definitely knows that I am sorry for my actions towards her that day. I had a lot of explaining to do! I am happy to report that all is well in the Smith House.

Suzy Starves for Attention

Everyone always warned me that having two babies would be completely life changing. They were 100% correct. I have been meaning to blog about Suzy's terrible adjustment period for going on 10 weeks now, but seriously have had zero time to do it. The only reason that I have time right now is because I am sitting at the surgery center waiting on Memaw to have a tiny procedure done! Our life has changed completely, but Suzy had the hardest time adjusting.

 

Week one was absolute torture. She cried, complained, whined, moaned, and groaned more than Sally did. She told me constantly that I didn't like her anymore, that I hated her, that I never did anything for her or with her anymore. The girl ripped my heart into pieces on the daily. I was an emotional wreck. Having terrible hormonal issues didn't help one single bit. Everyone stepped up and helped me out as much as they could, but nothing seemed to make it better. As soon as she would get home from an adventure the terrible behaviors returned! Things are slowly getting better, but she still has her days! If it weren't for the amazing support system we have there is no way that we would have made it this long. Suzy got out of school when Sally was around 4 weeks old. I was terrified to be cooped up in the house with both girls all day. I knew Suzy would go nutso and I would probably pull my hair out. I got creative and checked Kate and Lilly out of school a couple days to help entertain Suzy at the pool. The next week Piper and Tucker came to play. Dates with other kids were always a huge help!

My sweet Kate! This girl is so special to me!

Their very own bubble pool!

Lilly joined us the following day! She was pumped to be playing hookie from school :)

Suzy thought she was just as grown as they are!

Evie joined in on the fun too.

Suzy's best friend from FBC, Piper Massey.

Scott and I have done everything we can to make sure that Suzy knows that she is still just as special to us as she was before Sally came. We have talked to her, consoled her, and assured her as much as possible. I will be 100% honest and say that none of the talking and petting on her worked/works. It all boils down to her being alone at home with us or BUYING HER LOVE! The girl has it all figured out. The only thing that makes her totally and completely happy is buying presents and taking her places solo! We are so guilty of doing whatever it takes to keep her happy. Let's just face it.... Suzy rules the roost. If she ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. If she ain't happy I am seriously a crazy lunatic! I am either yelling, crying, spanking, or counting down the seconds before Scott gets off work!

Only big girls can ride in the VW! She thoroughly enjoys the fact that Sally is too little to ride in the Thing.

She also enjoys the fact that Sally doesn't have a life jacket small enough to go on boat rides at the lake house!

We struck out when Sally was only a couple weeks old and took Suzy to Academy to buy everything a child could possibly need for T-Ball. She picked out some pink cleats, a pink glove, some balls, and a purple bat. After buying all the goodies and seeing how excited she was about it we really thought she would love going to ball. We wasted that money. The only thing she wanted to do was bat. She would stand in the same spot on the field and get absolutely furious if the ball was not hit DIRECTLY to her. Maybe next year will be better (if she even wants to do it)!

 

 

I think the only game that she truly loved was the last one! They should have given out trophies at every game!

 

There is no doubt that Suzy loves Sally with all her heart. She tells us that she adores her, she hugs and kisses on her, and she misses her when she's away. She just doesn't like to share all the attention. I have to remember that she was the only child, grandchild, and great grandchild for four years. Her attitude toward the family of four idea changes daily. Things get better and better by the day. Prayers things continue to progress in a positive direction!